But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26

 

I wandered lonely and cast down

Weighted and weary, I had lost my crown

Head bent, eyes closed, tears flowed

Couldn’t shake the feeling

I had done too much wrong to even

 

hope for things to be better

hope for days to shine brighter

hope for a miracle, hope for change

hope I had not made too many mistakes.

 

I had carried the guilt for far too long

clung to it like it was my last straw

never realizing it was tearing me apart

from a life of freedom, peace of mind and heart.

 

But You.

You reminded me of who I am.

You reminded me I am not condemned.

You reminded me this is not Your path

You reminded me I can leave it in the past.

 

So here it is Lord. I give this to You.

I won’t let this guilt be the rule

and I won’t hold onto it anymore

I’m shoving it out of my life, out the door.

 

And what a relief, what a big huge sigh

Thank You Lord for this brand new life.

I’m grabbing the bar of this coaster I’m on

This ride’s about to get crazy and

oh so much fun!

 

~Marcie Bridges
©8 October 2019

 

“Guilt is the glue that holds you to your past.”  

~Liza Shaw, Therapist*

 

I’m wondering what kind of guilt you are holding onto today? What is it that you cannot seem to let go of? No matter how hard you try, it keeps coming back. Like a boomerang, you throw it upon the Lord but next thing you know, there it is again, eating at you.

 

I mentioned in last week’s post I had been dealing with mommy guilt. The week before had been hard in many ways, mistakes I thought I had made as a mother kept convicting me, hammering my heart with guilt and weighing me down.

 

But God used Liza to speak into my heart and remind me, I did what I thought best with the information I had at those times. “We only know what we know and can only do what we know to do with that knowledge.”

 

 

I had been clinging to the guilt of what I thought were mistakes and sins. Yet she reminded me of this one important fact:

 

“When you give it to God, he takes it away right then. Don’t you want that?”

 

Yes. Yes I do. I want freedom. I want peace. I want joy.

 

Listen to me. You cannot keep looking back and move forward. You. Just. Can’t. Lot’s wife looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.

 

Now, I know and understand God turned her into a block of salt because of disobedience to him. But stick with me here. If we let our past dictate who we are, and we keep looking back at it longing for things to be different, then we become stiff and unmovable in our lives. Kind of like a block of salt. We cannot stay stuck in the past. (Not to mention, since God tells us not to remember the former things, we are being disobedient to him.)

Just like living in fear is not living at all, staying in the past does not help us move forward.

 

Isaiah 43:18 says, “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.” This means, do not dwell on it. Do not make it a more than what it was.  And do you know what the next verse says? LOOK!

 

 

 

Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert.

(Isaiah 43:19)

 

A new thing. God is doing a new thing. When we let go of the old, God brings in the new.

 

So, I ask you the same thing Liza asked me… Don’t you want that? If so, give it to God. What have you got to lose except…guilt, condemnation of self, loathing, anger, weight,…? Doesn’t that sound refreshing?

 

I’m praying for you today that God will begin a new thing in your heart today. And hang on, cause it’s gonna be a great ride!

 

From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie

 

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It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming!

 

*Liza Shaw is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist: https://powertothrive.com/liza-shaw

All pictures copyright ©www.marciewbridges.com